The story goes on under the ad Meanwhile, activists inspired by Trump’s campaign claims have mobilized to target key positions in the administration and question the internal functioning of their parties along the way. “The party follows the life cycle of a star. It becomes denser, warmer, whiter. It will explode, “said Jeff Timer, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party who is a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project. He added: “Even if there was a red wave everywhere in the country, Republicans in Michigan are doing everything they can to defy it.” The fight for control of the Michigan Republican Party will have two acts this year. Party representatives will nominate candidates for multiple races at an April 23 congress, where Trump-backed attorney general Matthew DePerno and Secretary of State Cristina Caramo are widely expected to outrun members. party. The story goes on under the ad Other qualifying races, including those for Congress and the governor, will be scheduled by voters on Aug. 2. In addition to DePerno and Caramos, Trump has backed 10 candidates for the state legislature and has run in five congressional races. Each of the candidates who appeared on Trump’s side at his rally here at the weekend embraced his false allegations of widespread electoral fraud and promised to work to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Biden defeated Trump by about 150,000 votes in Michigan. “It’s time to invade the assembly,” DePerno said at the rally. “It is time for the popular roots to unite,” he urged. “Our opponents bleed the support every day.” Republican generals say DePerno is a prime example of problems within the party. Trump’s base may adore him, but they say he is facing a sharp rise by posing a serious challenge to incumbent Democrat Dana Nessel, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s campaign claims. The story goes on under the ad DePerno’s campaign ended last year with $ 61,180 in cash. Instead, his main rival, Tom Leonard, finished 2021 with just over $ 665,960 in the bank. Nessel, meanwhile, had more than $ 1.5 million in his hands. “DePerno has shown no ability to raise money on his own and the establishment is very skeptical that he is a viable candidate,” said Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. “If he emerges victorious from this conference and can show polls that show him competitive against Nessel, people will definitely give him a second look,” Roh said. “But I do not think he will have an easy road ahead of him to do that.” The 2020 election is the crucial issue in the Republican primary, with pro-Trump candidates vowing to rid the party of anyone who fails to get in line. The story goes on under the ad John Gibbs, a former Trump administration official in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, has backed the former president over his main dispute with Grand Rapids MP Peter Meijer over his vote to accuse Trump of inciting the uprising. “I think there are huge irregularities in the 2020 election, so I would say yes,” Gibbs said in an interview with The Post when asked if the 2020 election had been stolen. Gibbs called the vote on Meijer’s referral “unacceptable” and said it was the main reason he entered the race. At the time, Meijer said his vote may have been “an act of political suicide, but it was what I felt was necessary for the good of the country.” The outrage expressed by many of the party activists has provoked increasing reprimands from Democrats in the state, who have made the anti-democratic change of Republicans a central element of their midterm campaign message. The story goes on under the ad “Threats to our democracy are really a fire of five alarms, and in this fire, Michigan is ground zero,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson told a news conference last week, advocating a “multi-year, coordinated and complex attempt for possible overthrow. the results of legitimate presidential or other elections “. More than 250 audits have confirmed the legitimacy of the 2020 Michigan election. In July 2021, the Michigan Republican Party released its own study that found no widespread voter fraud in the election. Sen. Edward McBroom, a dairy farmer representing the state’s Upper Peninsula who authored the report but found no evidence of electoral fraud, said he was “optimistic” about democracy and confidence in the Michigan election despite conspiracy theories. of. The story goes on under the ad McBroome chairs the State Senate oversight committee, which has been accused of partisan investigations in the past. Last month, he and his Democratic vice president proposed a bipartisan oversight committee as a way to reduce confidence in government. The effort has gained traction on both sides of the aisle, but has not yet materialized. “I’m very focused on what we can do to maintain the democracy and government that we have and what is eroding trust in government,” McBroome said in an interview. “This is the transparency of the government. It’s a matter of accountability. “ Several generals in both parties have said that Trump’s concerted effort to undermine allegiance in the 2020 election and in future contests poses a corrosive threat to electoral loyalty across the country, with the battle within the Michigan Republican Party being considered a key issue. test point for echoing such lies. The story goes on under the ad “What we have seen since 2020 from the Republican Party is very destabilizing for democracy, and the outcome of the struggles in Michigan and across the country, especially in key battlefield states for 2024, will determine whether we have American democracy in 2025.” . said Timer. While McBrom said the party’s conspiratorial faction may be able to win many races during the party’s April convention and August qualifiers, he remains skeptical that the same candidates can win the general election. “They definitely have an impact on recruiting candidates, they are part of online discussions or shouting matches. “They are certainly not an insignificant part of the whole dialogue,” McBroom said of Republican candidates denying the 2020 election result. their issues? No.” The story goes on under the ad “Regardless of how people got to this point, whether it was conspiracy theories or real or perceived fraud, we need to reassure them that they can trust the election otherwise we will have controversial elections every two years,” said Rohn. who was fired as the party’s executive director who urged Republicans to go beyond Trump’s false election allegations. At Trump’s rally on Saturday night, members of the audience had different reasons for attending, including many conservative objections, including opposition to coronavirus mitigation policies and reactions to how race, gender and sex are taught. But the false allegations about the 2020 election have consolidated their anger. “I think it was a great rally. “His speech was inspiring and moving,” said Kathy Kempf, a retired nurse from Lake Whitmore in southeastern Michigan. Kempf, 65, expressed skepticism about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, saying “there were a lot of things that went wrong and could affect the other side.” Many in attendance voiced support for the unfounded QAnon conspiracy theory, which suggests that Trump is in a secret battle with an elite sex-trafficking tribe. “Trump will be back before 2024,” said Jill Wood, a 51-year-old financial executive who traveled to the rally from Columbus, Ohio. “Everyone knows there was fraud,” Wood said, referring to conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems, demystified videos of people destroying ballots and ballot collecting efforts. “There is a lot of betrayal that happened and these people will be held accountable.”